Apparatus for handling hot metal rods



April 29, 1952 J. w. sHEPERDsoN APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOT METAL RODS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 23, 1950 N f m E E m n m B H bw w+ bw @v bw w @n w @d 2 um n @im A IM J IHHI. IIN J HIM HH E bv E IWT E nv H MN M MN @N @.N @M N UN 9 ov Q 9v m Q ov n mn n @@Mnw @@U@ @mwwm @@Mnw \o 4 o mv \o o\ Q0 JN om @ko .o omrNQ. 0mm 0mm 9 @mw 9@ @$.66 @MU @NWWWQ @9. www @@*QMQQ 5@ Q n O 0 w+ @n QN mm@ L m; m;

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oe mn w+ wn ATTORNEY April 29, 1952 J. w. sHEPERDsoN 2,595,006

l APPARATUS F OR HANDLING VHOT METAL RODS Filed March 23, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN W. SHEPERDsoN ATTORNEY April 29, 1952 J. w. sHEPERDsoN 2,595,006

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOT METAL RODS v Filed March 23, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

INVENTOR.

JOHN W. SHE PERDSON ATTORNEY April 29, 1952 J. w. sHEPERDsoN APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOT METAL RODS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 23, 1950 INVENTOR.

JOHN W. SHEPERDSON ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1952 "2,595,006 nPPARZATUsroRHANnLING norm-Emi. Bons john S'liepen"d "s'ijil, Worcester.'Massgiassignor MtomMorgan Construction Company, Worcester, "'Mass.; ya'corporation of Massachusetts Alipliaatiolniarlch V23, 195o; senaifno-i5i3`5 fzciims. (orsi-ics) Y .This invention .,rslntesfnfnnennfns 'for handling hot metalrods, an'c l rnore p: ticularly to apparatus including a pluralityofreels adapted to form `such rods int,o annular bundles as they are delivered by a rollingmill,v andrneans lfor conveying the bundles away from; the reels.

In the usual rodmill it is lcusternary to provide Aa plurality offreels'.inarowatfone Vside ota that a minimum number `of reels may be required to handle theproduct of apartiularrolling mill, it is important to discharge the bundles from the reels as soon asthey are completed, 'so that each reel may be quickly preparedtoreceiveanother rod. With vthe usual arrangement'of apparatus, however, it is often not possible to dis charge a completed bundleimmediatelm since the conveyorspace opposite the loaded reel may be already occupied by a bundlefromv one of the other reels, or one pair of the conveyor dogs may be in a position to interfere withv the'discharge of the bundle. Consequently it has frequently been necessary to operate a rod mill at less than its full capacity, because of delay in the 'emptying of the reels.

It is accordingly one object of the invention to provide a novel arrangement of rod reels andan associated rod bundle conveyorsuchthat completed bundles ymay be discharged promptly from the reels. n

It is a further'fobject' ofzlthe invention to provide an arrangement 'of apparatus, including a group of rod reels'and an associated rod bundle conveyor, adaptednot 'only to facilitate prompt discharge of completed bundles fromthe reels but also to effect rapid'lcoolingfofthe"bundles and thereby avoid "the formation ofexcessive 'scale thereon.

With these and other objects in'view,-as will.

be apparent totho'seskilled'inthe art.'` the invention resides in the combination of `parts set forth in the specification" and covered by the claims appended hereto.

In accordance with the"`invention there is provided a plurality of reels each arranged to re- 'eiv'e a, longitudinally traveling not Lnitai rod and `to form t-liemsa'rnel into an annular" bundle. These reelsmnay be of'anyr suitable type, for' example pouring Jreels or laying "reels There is further vprovided a Yconveyor which is arranged 'to 4n'ove Vrod 'bundles in a 'generally V*horizontal direction. AThis conveyor is "preferably `Ofth'e type which yincludes ajs'eris 'o'f longitudinally spaced pairs of 'laterally adjacent abutir'ients adapted to engage the rod bundles from'therear and to push them along with Hthfeiraxes upright. Adjacent each reel there is provided al delay station -to"whic`h a bundle may be transferred from the reel'by'a reel dischargemechanism 'and from which abundle may be moved' onto the cnveyor by a transfer mechanism 'operable independently of vrthe 'reel jdischarge mech'ani'srn With this construction a completed'bundlernay be discharged immediately from a reel to the corresponding delay station `even fthough the conveyor may not be in condition at the moment to receive such bundl'eyand the reel Amay thereforereceive v'another rod and begin 'forming it into a new bundle :at once. Ih'e discharged bundle may remain at the delay station"unti1"jan empty space on Vthe conveyor varrivesopposit'e the delay station, whereupon the`bundle'may be transferred tothesaidempty space. Thus each reel may be operated at its fullcapacity. Each delay station may be provided with means fto blow air through the convolutions of a bundle located thereon, and-in this `mannerthe bundles may be cooled rapidly While they are Iawaiting transfer to the conveyor. This will prevent excessive scale formation on the bundles.

Referring tothe drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention and inwhich 4like reference numerals indicate like parts,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a rod handling apparatus shown partially in'section along the line I-I of Fig. 3';

Fig. 2 is an enlargedplan 4View of aportion'of the apparatus shown in Fig- Lthe section being taken at a somewhat lower plane as indicatedby the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, certa in parts beingbroken away for clearness of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a verticalvsection taken on the -line 3"3 of Fig. 2; and ,f

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view'taken in section on the line -d of Fig. 3.

The embodiment illustrated rcomprises afrod bundle conveyor I0 of a well-known type imncl'vfding an elongated horizontal vplate I Iv having" two longitudinally extendinggewild.Sinin-Zin n An endless chain I4 travels along e'achwslof'fi",

3 and each chain carries a series of dogs I which project above the plate II. The dogs on the respective chains are arranged in lateral alignment, and each pair of laterally adjacent dogs may serve to push a rod bundle B along the conveyor with the axis of the bundle upright.

At one side of the conveyor I0 there is located a series of reels I1 arranged in a row extending parallel with the conveyor but spaced a short distance therefrom. These reels I'I may be of any type adapted to receive a rapidly traveling hot metal rod and to form it into an annular bundle. The particular reels illustrated are of the well-known pouring type, each reel comprising a horizontal circular coil plate I8 (Fig. 2) which is rotated about a vertical axis by means of an electric motor I9, the motor being connected to the coil plate by means of suitable gearing enclosed in a gear box 2| (Fig. 3) Each plate I8 is provided with an inner row of openings 22 and an outer row of openings 23, both rows being in the form of circles coaxial with the plate. Pins 25 extend upwardly through the openings 22, and pins 26 extend upwardly through the openings 23. It will be understood that a longitudinally traveling hot metal rod will be delivered through a guide pipe (not shown) in a downwardly inclined and generally tangential direction to the annular space between the two rows of pins 25 and 26, so that an annular coil or bundle will be formed within the said annular space. Upon completion of the bundle, the electric motor I9 wilLbe stopped, and the coil plate I8 will be raised to lift the bundle above the level of the tops of the pins 25 and 26, so that the bundle may be discharged laterally from the plate. The raising and lowering of the plate I8 is accomplished by means of a hydraulic motor 28 (Fig. 3) which is connected by a link 29 to a lever 30. One end of this lever is fulcrumed on a pin 32, and the other end is connected by a link 33 to a vertical rod 34 which extends upwardly through the gear box 2| in a position coaxial with the coil plate I8. This rod serves to raise and lower the plate in known manner.

. Between each reel I1 and the conveyor I0 there is provided a horizontal plate or platform 36 forming a delay station on which a bundle discharged from the reel may rest for a while before it is transferred to the conveyor. The upper surface of this plate 36 is preferably substantially level with the top of the conveyor plate II and with the top of the coil plate I8 when the latter is in its raised or discharge position. Each reel I1 is provided with a separate mechanism for discharging bundles to the corresponding ldelay station. For this purpose a generally horizontal arm 38 is secured at one end to the upper end of a vertical shaft 39 which is rotatably supported in a bearing 40 on one side of the reel housing. This arm 38 is arranged to swing horizontally over the top of the coil plate I8, when the latter is raised, and thereby sweep a completed rod bundle from the coil plate to the delay station platform 36. The arm carries a pair ofshoes 42 which engage the bundle during this operation. To actuate the arm 33 there is provided a hydraulic motor 43 which drives a. reciprocable horizontal rack 44 meshing with a gear segment 45 secured to the lower end of the shaft 39. Similarly each delay station 33 is provided with a separate mechanism for transferring bundles therefrom to the conveyor IB.

Each `such mechanismcomprises a generally horizontal arm 41 fastened at one end to the upper end of a vertical shaft 48 which is rotatably supported in a bearing 49 on one side of the platform 36. This arm carries a pair of shoes 5I arranged to engage a bundle and to sweep it from the platform 36 to the conveyor I0. 'I'he arm is actuated by a hydraulic motor 52 which drives a reciprocable horizontal rack 53, this rack meshing with a gear segment 54 fastened to the lower end of the shaft 48. It will be understood that the admission of pressure fluid to each of the motors 43 and 52, and the discharge of fluid therefrom, will be controlled by valves (not shown) of a suitable and well-known type.

In some cases it is desirable to cool the bundles of rod quickly in order to minimize the formation of scale thereon. This may be accomplished by blowing cool air through the convolutions of the bundles while they are positioned at the delay stations. For this purpose each delay station platform 3S is provided with a group of closely spaced openings 60 extending through the platform in position to be surrounded by a bundle B when the latter is discharged from the corresponding reel I1, as best shown in Fig. 2. A fan 6I (Figs. 3 and 4) is located beneath each platform 3B and arranged to blow air upwardly through a duct 62 to the openings 60. The wheel or impeller of each fan is rotated by a shaft 63'driven by an electric motor 55 (Fig. 3). In order that the air delivered upwardly through the openings 60 will be compelled to flow outwardly through the convolutions of the rod bundle, a horizontal circular plate 61 somewhat exceeding the bundle in outside diameter is placed on the top of the bundle. One of these plates is provided at each delay station. Each plate 61 is suspended by cables 68 or the like from the piston rod of a vertical hydraulic motor 10, so that the plates may be raised and lowered as desired. The motors 10 are mounted on a suitable supporting structure 1I above the delay stations. f

The operation of the invention will now be apparent from the above disclosure. Hot metal rods produced by a rolling mill will be delivered through the usual guide pipes (not shown) to the reels Il', which will form the rods into annular bundles B in the usual manner. As each reel completes a bundle, the corresponding driving motor I9 will be stopped, the hydraulic motor 28 will be energized to raise the coil plate I8 and the bundle above the tops of the pins 25 and 26 in the usual way, and the hydraulic motor 43 will be energized to swing the arm 38 to the position. indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2, thereby sweeping the bundle from the coil plate I8 to the delay station platform 35 in a position surrounding the group of air openings 60. The coil plate I8 will thereupon be lowered, the motor I9 started, and the arm 33 returned to its original position, so that the reel I'I will be in condition to receive another rod immediately. In the meantime the plate f will be lowered to engage the top of the bundle on the platform 35, and the fan 5I will blow air upwardly through the duct 62 and the openings Eil into the interior of the bundle and thence radially outward through the convolutions of the bundle to cool the same. The bundle can be retained on the platform 36 until the continuous movement of the conveyor chains I4 causes an empty pair of dogs I5 to approach, whereupon the plate 61 will be lifted from the bundle and the hydraulic Vmotor 52 will be energized to swing the arm 41 to the position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2, thus sweeping the bundle from the delay station to the conveyor plate Il in, position to be engaged by the approachinglgzdogs. The arm 41 will 4then be returned toits original position.

The invention makes it possible to discharge each bundle from a reel as soon as the bundle is completed ,and regardless of whether or not the conveyor |.0 is able to take immediate delivery of the bundle. Thus each reel may be operated more eiciently, and more bundles per hour can be formed therein. Furthermore, each bundle may be effectively cooled while it rests at the delay station'36, so that very little scale will form l on the bundles.

Having thus described my invention, what 1,. claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for handling hot metal rods comprising a Aplurality of reels each arranged to re-v ceive a rodand to form the same into an annular' bundle, a conveyor arranged to move rod bundles in a generally horizontal direction, the reels being spaced slightly from the conveyor, a substantially horizontal platform between each reel and the conveyor and forming a delay station, the platform having a group o-f openings therethrough, means to 'transfer bundles from each reel to the corresponding platform in a position directly above the group of openings, means-to blow air upwardly through the openings, a plate supported above each platform and arrangedV t'o be lowered'on to a bundle to deflect the air laterf ally through the convolutions of the bundle, and

means to'lftransfer bundles from each delay sts??y tion to the conveyor and operable independently of the first mentioned transfer means 2. Apparatus for handling hot metal rods comn prising a plurality of aligned reels each arranged to receive a rod and to form the same into an annular bundle, a generally horizontal conveyor substantially parallel to said aligned reels having a series of longitudinally spaced traveling abutments arranged to engage rod bundles and to move the bundles alongthe conveyor with their axes upright, the reels being spaced slightly from the conveyor, a substantially horizontal platform whose center is located between each reel and the conveyor on a. perpendicular line from the center of the reel to the center-line of the conveyor and forming a delay station, means to discharge bundles from each reel to the corresponding platform, a generally horizontal arm supported about an upright axis near each platform in position to sweep bundles from the platform and on to the conveyor, and means to actuate each arm independently of the said discharge means. ,l

JOHN W. SHEPERDSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany; June 3. 1935 

